The Melier: Home World (Women of Dor Nye Book 2) (14 page)

“Where are we going?”

“You will see.”

Much to her disappointment, she began sweating, and her eyes rolled as she cursed the fucking fireball of a planet she was on. Why couldn’t it have been a cold planet? She could’ve dealt with that
much
better.

Curra’s heat was suffocating too, but it was like she jumped from the pan into the fire by coming to Melierun. She heard Zun sigh, and her gaze swept to him as she wiped a trickle of sweat from her jaw.

“Your species inability to regulate their body temperature is bothersome,” he rubbed at his nose. “Your pheromones are extremely potent at this moment.”

Lucia shook her head, fanning her face. “If your planet wasn’t a fucking oven…,” she grumbled.

A few minutes later, she could hear the crash of water and the temperature was cooling by a few degrees. Not by much, but just enough to give her body a sliver of respite.

A little bit later, their mounts were moving into a clearing with a turquoise pool of water in its middle, the small waterfall tumbled in white mists to feed the reserve, and on a small island in the middle of the pool stood a gray stone sculpture of A’Drast and M’Oklo.

“What is this place?” she breathed. The canopy of the forest surrounded the small clearing blanketed in burnt orange grass, and the mists from the moisture in the air floated above the entire thing, mimicking low lying clouds. She accepted Zun’s help down from the mount.

“It is one of many sacred places on Melierun,” he stepped away from her to keep a comfortable distance between them both. Before he could get too far away, her fingers latched onto his tail and she watched as he visibly shuddered. His pupils widened and shrunk as he went rigid.

“Why have you brought me here?”

Her expression was one of confusion. She couldn’t understand how all of a sudden he didn’t want to be near her or even touch her with his
tail
. It was just too abrupt, as he’d been caressing her whenever he could the past while. For all that to just stop the day after she initiated further intimacy, it just seemed too strange.

His tail tugged, but Lu didn’t let it go.

Instead she ran her fingers through the thick blue fur, and scratched along its roots. Her eyes watched as he shuddered once more and closed his eyes momentarily. Again he tugged, but instead of resisting or letting go, she let the tail pull her closer to him. This shocked Zun, and he took a step back to compensate for the distance between them again.

“You’re acting as if you’re
afraid
of me. It’s kind of hurting my feelings, to be honest.” Her brows knit together when Val’Zun groaned and scrubbed a pair of hands over his face.

“Loo-Sha, I do not want to
hurt
you.”

Her fingers clenched onto his tail and he jumped. Immediately she relaxed her hands.

“I don’t believe you would hurt me, Val’Zun.” The thought was ludicrous. A few months ago, she
might
believe he was capable of hurting a human, but it was still hard for her to even think that. She didn’t think he was capable of hurting a female.

“Not intentionally,” he choked out and backed away another step, causing her to follow while she still clutched his tail. His groan sounded strange to her ears, as if he was tormented. He couldn’t even
look
at her. She took two steps toward him, quickly. Again he rushed backward.

“Val’Zun,” she tugged his tail enough to catch his attention. “
Stop
walking away from me.”

She felt ridiculous with him trying to escape her so eagerly. Was she
that
repulsive? She was tempted to sniff her pits to see if it was more than pheromones hurting his sensitive nose. Why did he even take her here if he didn’t want to be near her? Another two steps forward, and Val’Zun moved a foot backward as if he was going to back up
again
, but he thought better of it and stood still.

His breathing was shallow, like he was fearful. The closer she got, the shorter his breaths were. His pupils had fully dilated, and his obsidian gaze kept flicking over her and then looking away like it was horrible to
glance
upon her. Lucia just couldn’t understand.

“Hey,” she whispered as if she were trying to coax a cornered animal. Her hands tentatively lay upon one of his arms and when he flinched, she let go of his tail to lay her other hand upon his stomach. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

He wouldn’t look at her.

She pulled upon his robe, forcing him to bend down, and she knew he did it to satisfy her and not because she was strong enough to make him do anything he didn’t want to do. Her palms lay upon his face and he exhaled raggedly, shutting his eyes as she brought his face closer to hers. “Zun?”

Finally he opened his eyes and
looked
at her.

“Loo-Sha,” he breathed, his nostrils flaring. All of a sudden, he pulled from her grasp and took several steps backward, bending over and resting his hands on his knees as he gasped for lungful’s of air. “I cannot take it,” he rasped. “Please, just, stay there.”

Lucia’s brows furrowed and her blood coursed with anger and embarrassment. “Am I really
that
vile? I have apologized about my actions yesterday, and I am
truly
sorry, but I don’t think it warrants treating me like
this
.”

She curled her fingers and then turned to walk away. She found a spot near the water’s edge and sat down. The air brushing over the water was just a little bit cooler, and it felt
good
against her hot skin while she chanted her calming mantra in her head, grasping at some kind of harmony.

****

Val’Zun groaned as he tried to control his body
once more
. Lucia thought he viewed her as
vile
and apologized for what she’d done yesterday
twice
now. He wanted to tell her how much he enjoyed what she had done, even if it nearly broke his resolve.

I must control myself.

I am losing my fucking mind.

He
wanted
Lucia.

He was on the verge of begging her to
accept
him, but he needed to bridle his body first. If he lost control he could snap her delicate neck, snuffing out her precious life before he even realized what was happening.

He could not lose himself like his brothers did during mating. Val’Zun was too volatile. Once he lost control, it was extremely difficult to rein himself in, and that was why only
strong
females had been able to couple with him in the past, though he had not been with one since before he met Lucia.

It has been too long.

His throat was dry with exhaustion and he tried to gulp, but it was too painful. Even the thought of snapping Lucia’s neck wasn’t helping his frenzied state.

Slowly, he made his way to the pool and then he sunk to his knees, cupping the cold water and splashing it against his face. He did this repeatedly, and drank as well. He closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing deeply.

A’Drast help him, he’d never been so strongly affected by a female.

Once he felt he was in complete control again, he made his way to Lucia, sitting beside her but far enough away so she wasn’t touching him and her pheromones weren’t all he could smell.

“I apologize,” he whispered sincerely. “It is
me
, not you. I do not want to hurt you, Loo-Sha.”

He grimaced and looked out over the water.

“Hurt me? Why would you hurt me?”

Val’Zun’s throat worked, as it was suddenly dry again.

****

Lucia didn’t try to touch him again. She wasn’t sure she
wanted
to. She hated to admit it chipped away at her pride that she was being jilted by someone who had previously
wanted
her, and now that she finally wanted him too, he couldn’t stand her nearness.

“In our culture, some males are
less
suitable mates.” She watched Zun say this like he was embarrassed and ashamed of himself, which made her chest pang with pity. “I am already a
less
suitable male because it is hard for me to control myself during mating. I cannot think past my baser self if I let it pull me under. Females do not like this in a mate, and very few Melier females are strong enough to withstand mating with a
less
suitable male.”

A whine in his throat eked from him and he couldn’t meet her eyes as he stared at the ground and then back out onto the water.

“It has taken much work to master my body around you, and I am fearful to lose my control and
kill
you.”

A tremor zipped up Lucia’s spine. She realized then that her actions of the past two days had probably caused Val’Zun pain, and she felt a wave of guilt. But she
knew
, she just
knew
deep down that Zun would not lose control with her. He might be afraid, but she was certain the thought of hurting her would keep him in his right mind.

Hopefully.

Lucia needed to prove this to him, and to herself, if she was being honest.

Val’Zun had to
see
he could dominate his passion.

“Zun?”

His gaze hesitantly swept to meet her eyes. She swallowed.

“You won’t hurt me.”

“Loo-Sha-”

“You can
control
it,” she interrupted his protest. “You are too stubborn and strong willed to let your primitive self
hurt
me.”

His brow sunk low with concentration and confusion at her words.

“Now, touch me.”

His hands fisted.

“
Touch me
,” she repeated coaxingly.

The seconds ticked by and then… the soft fur of his tail flicked slowly, teasingly back and forth along her neck only to slink lower and brush across her exposed clavicle. It felt
good
, and her lips parted slightly as a breath slipped from her.

Zun’s butter colored gaze had long disappeared, and all that was left was a black, consuming void that hypnotized her. The tail traced along her jaw, tiny hairs swiping her bottom lip and pulling forth another sigh, and a welcome, heavy weight began to form in the pit of her stomach. His face inched closer to hers at a snail-like pace and she stayed still, refusing to pull herself away.

“Loo-Sha,” he whispered reverently when his nose slid along the angle of her jaw, slowly scenting her and tracing the warmth of his lips against her skin.

Her eyes drooped and slid shut as gooseflesh spread along her arms, and her blood began to simmer with warmth. A groan vibrated through his lips onto her skin, and Lucia shivered visibly. One of his hands gently lay upon the nape of her neck and tilted her head back. He whispered her name again,
scenting
and
feeling
her skin against his mouth and nose.

When his warm, long tongue began to taste her, she couldn’t contain the whimper that eked from her lungs, and the shaky inhale following it. Its pleasantly rough texture against her soft skin lit sparks behind her eyelids, making her want
more
.

“Val’Zun,” she sighed, barely audible while she rode the waves of sensations taking her under. Her mind was one jumbled mess while her body kept telling her this was
right
.

A hand rested upon her chest and urged her to the ground. There was little resistance as her body obeyed and the soft blades of burnt orange grass cushioned her, forming around her body in a customized bed meant just for her.

Lucia’s eyes opened then and she watched as Zun lowered himself over her, noticing that he was visibly shaking like a leaf while he hovered there. His expression was one of pain and longing, causing her heart to flip over for him. When her hand reached up to lay upon his cheek, he squeezed his eyes shut while another tremor raked through his body.

“Zun?” she whispered.

“Loo-Sha,” his strained voice said as his eyes opened once more, pleading as they bore down into hers. “I...” Again, her heart flipped and she felt it might choke her throat. Her thighs opened slowly and she untied her sash, pulling the dress up and over her head.

“I know…” She lifted her face up to kiss the underside of his jaw, which made him shudder and exhale. He didn’t move, he just hovered there, shaking. “Zun,” she whispered again.

Her eyes drifted down his exposed chest that was visible from the opening of the robe he was wearing. Fingers lightly skimmed down his lean, lightly rippled stomach and she slowly unbuckled the silver belt. It fell to the grass with a tinkling sound, and she pushed the robe from his shoulders, allowing him to quickly shrug it off.

One might think his frame was too skinny, too thin, to be attractive, but Lucia had witnessed the strength he possessed. He may lack the bulk of muscle Ren and Soren carried, though it didn’t make him lesser in her eyes; only different.